DM News:Book Review: Tea You at the Altar

[James Thomson]

I very much enjoyed the two previous books in this cozy sapphic fantasy series by Rebecca Thorne, “Can’t Spell Treason Without Tea”, and “A Pirate’s Life for Tea”. Reyna is a former guard to the ruthless Queen Tilaine, and Kianthe is the all-powerful Mage of Ages. They have settled down together in the town of Tawney, where they run a small, unassuming tea shop away from the pressures of the world.

 

Of course, life is never that simple, and over the years they have searched for missing dragon eggs, raised a baby griffin, sailed with pirates, and generally tackled injustice wherever they found it. Perhaps most importantly, they have encouraged all the people around them to become the best versions of themselves. Now they have a whole supportive community, which is very useful when you have a lot to do, and not a lot of time to do it.

 

In this, the third book of four, they are trying to entrap and overthrow the aforementioned Queen, using their own very real wedding as bait. Not to mention working out who is going to rule in her absence. But did I mention a wedding? That alone seems like a pretty stressful thing to plan and pull off! Trying to do both at the same time results in the sort of shenanigans you might imagine.

 

Most of the characters from the other books are here, as well as some new ones including Tessalyn the long lost heir to the throne, her expertly-named protector James, and Kianthe’s rather disapproving parents.

 

This series began as a reaction to the popularity of “Legends & Lattes” by Travis Baldree, but it has continued to grow away from that initial inspiration and certainly has found its own voice. The warm and loving tone was exactly what I needed, as well as the positive vibes and mutual understanding of the two main protagonists. This is my favourite book of the series so far, and I’m told by the author that the fourth and final book is even better, so I have a lot to look forward to. An extended excerpt of that one is included as a bonus chapter at the end.

 

Go read the whole series! Thanks to Tor for the early review copy.

 

Don't forget, you can pick this up in our ebook store!
 

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